The Philadelphia Eagles play against the Detroit Lions in Week 12 and Mark Sanchez is expected to start with Sam Bradford dealing with an injury. Bradford has returned to practice for Chip Kelly, but he is expected to be out along with Ryan Mathews and that could put Darren Sproles into a bigger role against Detroit.
The Eagles come into the game after a loss against the Buccaneers and the team is trying to stay in the mix in the NFC East division race. Sanchez started in place of the injured Bradford last week and now he is expected to start again. According to Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News, Sanchez has taken the first team reps in practice heading into the Thanksgiving game and that puts him on track to start. Bradford has returned to practice, but it appears he is not ready to get under center again.
Bradford is dealing with a shoulder injury and a concussion and that could keep him on the sidelines for another week. Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said that the team will know more about the status of Bradford on Wednesday, but it looks like Sanchez will be the one to start. Sanchez had a tough game against the Buccaneers with three interceptions and he went 26-of-41 for 261 yards and two touchdowns in the loss.
The Eagles are now 4-6 and Chip Kelly faced some tough questions from reporters after the game, but he said that he has confidence in his team and that he expects to bounce back against the Lions. Kelly was asked about Sanchez and whether he considered benching the quarterback during the game, but he said "that thought did not cross my mind." The Eagles have Thad Lewis on the roster and he was the backup last week with Bradford out.
Bradford was able to return to practice on Monday, but his status remains unclear for Thursday and it's likely he will be out or will serve as a backup for Sanchez. Ryan Mathews could be out for the game on Thursday after dealing with a concussion, as Shurmur said that Mathews remains in the concussion protocol. If Mathews it out, it means DeMarco Murray will get the bulk of the carries and Darren Sproles also could see some touches.
Sproles and Mark Sanchez got into it during the game on Sunday after some miscommunication that resulted in an interception return for a touchdown, but the team downplayed any issues between the two. Kelly said that the players were frustrated and that "those guys were yelling at each other a little bit and we stopped it." Sanchez said that the two are fine and there are no issues between them moving forward.